Half Life 2: Episode 4 has been Cancelled - Polidicks

[quote] Half-life 2: Episode 4 or [URL="http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Return_to_Ravenholm"]Return to Ravenholm[/URL] was a title developed by Arkane studios and eventually cancelled. Little of the game beyond concept art and an animation reel demo has been seen before now. We've uncovered a couple images which show some in-game shots of the title which show new textures and models Arkane planned for the game. You may notice a HUD element saying 'Absorption' in the images, if you have any suggestions what that might be, we'd like to hear them! You can also check out our [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRryGWqBNs8"]video showing all the media from Episode 4 right here.[/URL] [/quote] [img_thumb]http://www.valvetime.net/attachments/ep4_2-1-png.23925/[/img_thumb] [img_thumb]http://www.valvetime.net/attachments/ep4_2-2-png.23926/[/img_thumb] [URL]http://www.valvetime.net/threads/new-images-of-half-life-2-episode-4-return-to-ravenholm.243033/[/URL] [video=youtube;XRryGWqBNs8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRryGWqBNs8[/video]

Without 3 there is no 4. Fake. Yeees, let all the dumb flow out.

Christ, I almost misread it as "Episode 3 has been cancelled" and nearly had an aneurism

[QUOTE=VaSTinY;39183802]Christ, I almost misread it as "Episode 3 has been cancelled" and nearly had an aneurism[/QUOTE] erm episode 3 [I]has [/I]been cancelled

Sensationalist as fuck.

All you can fucking see from the homepage is "Half Life 2: Episode..." fuck you and your let-down titles :< just kidding love you <3

Why the hell did Arkane studios even start to do this game?

-snip-

what pistol is that? looks different

well i never heard of this anyway

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;39183846]Why the hell did Arkane studios even start to do this game?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]On January 13, Marc Laidlaw confirms to LambdaGeneration that a fourth and now cancelled Half-Life 2 Episode, titled Return to Ravenholm, was being developed by Arkane Studios from 2006 to 2007. He states that as big fans of Arkane and their work, Valve wanted to come up with a common project that both studios could work on. Valve threw ideas around, and Arkane built "some cool stuff", but Valve eventually decided that it didn't make sense to pursue Return to Ravenholm at the time. They felt like a lot of the staples of Ravenholm (Headcrabs and Zombies) were pretty much played out, and the fact that it would have to take place sometime before the end of Episode Two (so as not to advance beyond where Valve had pushed the story) represented a creative constraint that would hamper the project, as well as Arkane themselves. Episode Four and Return to Ravenholm are also confirmed by Laidlaw to be the same thing.[/QUOTE] [URL]http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Return_to_Ravenholm[/URL]

I thought ravenholm was destroyed when the citadel exploded?

[QUOTE=Prez;39183831]All you can fucking see from the homepage is "Half Life 2: Episode..." fuck you and your let-down titles :<[/QUOTE] And here was me thinking it was "Half Life 2: Episode Two Update Released" Come on guys, we need these minor polish localization typo corrections

Arkane Studios? I figure they were too busy making Dishonored to finish this then?

[QUOTE=supersoldier58;39183873][URL]http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Return_to_Ravenholm[/URL][/QUOTE] [QUOTE=supersoldier58;39183873]January 13[/QUOTE] ...But it's the 11th. Your source's source: [url]http://lambdageneration.com/posts/marc-laidlaw-on-the-cancelled-half-life-spin-offs-return-to-ravenholm-and-episode-four/[/url] So it turns out that ValveTime is about a year late. Seems fitting.

It was cancelled 6 years ago, the news here is that screenshots have been released

Why does one of the images show a zombie without a crab?

[QUOTE=rrunyan;39184062]Why does one of the images show a zombie without a crab?[/QUOTE] Maybe headcrabs transferred some kind of virus to its victims?

Wow, very very interesting. I think I would of actually liked this as a side project thing related in the half-life universe, especially by Arkane. Not sure about the fast zombies though, looks like a scrapped idea. Maybe the combine found a way to extract the zombie like effects the headcrabs give off to their host and used it as a biological weapon or something. An interesting idea, but I wouldn't really say it fits in the HL universe. And it would be really hard to explain the whole crabless zombie thing without seeming stupid.

[QUOTE=rrunyan;39184062]Why does one of the images show a zombie without a crab?[/QUOTE] One of the early Half Life 2 concept arts showed a zombie bitten by a headcrabs on the neck/shoulder, leaving his head free. Maybe Arkane wanted to re-use that idea and do something with it.

Obviously the absorption is how much 'infection' the suit can take before Gordon is a zombie.

[QUOTE=kimr120;39184105]Maybe headcrabs transferred some kind of virus to its victims?[/QUOTE] Headcrabs are parasites, without them on the host's head there would be nothing to control the hosts body.

In theory they could also control a host if they connected with the spinal column, though it'd be awkward as all hell

They don't have a source on the images though Anyone can come up to you and say "ey amigo we found these SCREENSHOTS from episode 4 and totally not from a mod or smth from this anonymous source" I need more proof of the legitimacy of the screenshots before I can go "wow dude"

[QUOTE=-Rusty-;39184175]Headcrabs are parasites, without them on the host's head there would be nothing to control the hosts body.[/QUOTE] This. They are an organism, viruses don't just pop out and do the same thing the organism does. Besides it doesn't make any sense for a headcrab to unlatch from it's victim and then have it's victim walk around and try to eat people. You can clearly hear the backwards headcrab screams, the crab is keeping the person alive against his/her will and upon detachment, the person dies.

[URL]http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Sacktick[/URL] Maybe arkane wanted to explore this idea, and revolved the story around the combine using it against the ongoing resistance, creating another type on zombie? The players goal could be to stop the infection somehow. (This would all be while Gordon and Alyx were stuck in their teleportation for a week.)

That headcrab playing with the head was adorable.

Damn this could've been kinda cool. Arkane Studios is nice.

[QUOTE=Pvt. Martin;39183898]Arkane Studios? I figure they were too busy making Dishonored to finish this then?[/QUOTE] This was cancelled in 2007. [url=http://lambdageneration.com/posts/return-to-ravenholm-a-cancelled-2007-half-life-project-by-valve-software-and-arkane-studios-developers-of-dark-messiah-dishonored-and-the-crossing/]It's not exactly news that it was cancelled[/url], either. This is just the first media we see of it. Interestingly enough, there has been news before of another cancelled Half-Life project, also developed outside of Valve: [url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1071828-Concept-Art-from-a-Cancelled-Half-Life-Project...-by-EA[/url] Which I figured was the canned EP4 project back then, but it seems to be a separate thing. [editline]11th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=supersoldier58;39184244][URL]http://combineoverwiki.net/wiki/Sacktick[/URL] Maybe arkane wanted to explore this idea, and revolved the story around the combine using it against the ongoing resistance, creating another type on zombie? The players goal could be to stop the infection somehow. (This would all be before gordon arrived from his slow-teleport.)[/QUOTE] The sacktick theory makes sense, but EP4 was, AFAIK, supposed to be played from the perspective of someone else. At least that's what Valve themselves said back in 2006.

This looks almost live-action. [IMG]http://www.valvetime.net/attachments/ep4_2-2-png.23926/[/IMG]